News

The Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies, which was launched during the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the restoration of Lithuania’s Independence in Vilnius, supports the nomination of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize and draws attention to the situation in Georgia and Cuba.

On 18 March, President of the Parliamentary Forum Emanuelis Zingeris and Chairman of the Seimas (Parliament) delegation to the Baltic Assembly Mantas Adomėnas presented documents that were adopted during the convening meeting of the Parliamentary Forum.

On 12 March, the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies passed on a resolution, which expresses deep concern with the imprisonment of Chinese activist and intellectual Liu Xiaobo and strongly supports his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Members of Parliament from 18 countries, who aim to foster the ideas of democracy, human rights and freedom, attended the convening meeting of the Forum and adopted the Vilnius Declaration, thus committing themselves s “to work together to strengthen democracy where it is weak and invigorate even where it is longstanding, to promote the peace, development and human rights in their respective countries and around the world.”

Resolutions on the situation in Georgia and Cuba were also passed. The resolutions express concern about Russia’s ongoing militarization of the Georgian regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the humanitarian situation of the remaining Georgia’s citizens in these occupied territories. The resolution calls on the democratic community to take concrete steps in demonstrating solidarity by “providing humanitarian and technological assistance” to the pro-democracy movement, which has grown during the recent years in Cuba.

During the meeting in Vilnius, the situation in Belarus and Cuba and possible projects of support to democracy in Moldova and Georgia were discussed.

The Community of Democracies is an intergovernmental structure. The goal of this organization is to strengthen and consolidate democracy worldwide. In July 2009, Lithuania started a two-year Presidency of the Community of Democracies, which joins together over 100 countries.

The Parliamentary Forum was launched by 43 Members of Parliament from Lithuania, the U.S.A., other European, Latin American and Asian countries. Patron of this event, Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) Irena Degutienė, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek welcomed the Forum meeting.

Long-time member of the United States House of Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart, one of the most active Canada’s fighters for human rights and democracy David Kilgour, German representative in the European Parliament Michael Gahler, who significantly contributed to Lithuania’s Euro-Atlantic integration, leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament Michał Tomasz Kamiński, one of the most active participants in the Prague Spring and former Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Vondra, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament David Bakradze and Mexican Senator Adriana González Carrillo were elected as Vice-Presidents of the Forum.

The Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies will complement current cooperation between the Community of Democracies’ governments and non-governmental organizations. Members of the Forum intend to meet regularly every year, make suggestions regarding the development of democracy around the world and share their experience of parliamentary work with transition countries and pro-democratic groups in authoritarian regimes. Members of the Forum will also aim to strengthen democracy in their own countries. One of the goals of the Forum is to strengthen the role of the Parliament, as a key state institution, ensuring the democratic governance of the state.

For more information on Lithuania’s Presidency of the Community of Democracies please visit here.